"A Franxx with this kind of power..."
Nana found herself murmuring to no one in particular at the command center as she watched the amazing spectacle unfold before her very eyes. Strelizia Custom had stood it's ground against a charging Worm-class and stopped it cold. A Worm-class, that usually required a bare minimum of two entire squads of Standard Franxx cooperating together to take down. A high-tier klaxosaur that was not even supposed to exist outside of the front lines.
And Strelizia Custom had grounded it with a single fist.
"Sync rate is still capped out at 199! All sensors are reporting errors in their measurements!"
The panicked cry of the operator broke Nana out of her daze as ugly red warnings flashed over Strelizia's form on the displays.
"Confirm it once more! It hasn't budged at all? Not even a single point?"
"No Ma'am!"
The tapping of a cane against the floor reminded Nana of his presence as Doctor Franxx indulged in his habit of broadcasting his musings. Airy and casual was his tone as always, as if nothing in the entire world could faze him. Every head in the command center turned towards him in order to invest their full attention on the eccentric genius.
"Seems like he has it figured out then. Not only that, but he's able to effortlessly enter and maintain Unison Mode. How very beautiful, history is being made right before us." he mused.
"Doctor, Hiro's para-capacity has crossed the critical point and is still rising! We need to call them off now! Any further is too dangerous!" Nana cried out as she pleaded for his approval to withdraw Strelizia Custom from the battlefield.
Her appeal was shutdown however, by the hard steely gaze of Doctor Franxx's remaining good eye.
"We have no other choice but to see it through the end now. Because-"
With a jab of his cane, he brought Hiro's vitals to the forefront on the display. Nana's eyes widened, her body fighting the urge to retch as her brain translated the warning signs and red highlights on his body.
His organs were starting to fail.
Hiro was dying.
"This is his only chance left." Werner continued as he pointed out Hiro's Yellow Blood Cell levels.
The Yellow Blood Cells that spiked ever further up in numbers and refused to show any signs of stopping. With dread welling up in her heart, Nana couldn't keep her voice from cracking,
"So, the saurification will begin then..."
Tears began to well up in her eyes as Nana realized the hopeless situation that Hiro found himself in. Occupied as she was by her flood of emotions, she did not notice the tightening of the Doctor's grip on his cane.
"Place your trust in him as I did. That's all we can do now, Nana."
His clipped tone provided no comfort to her as she watched one of her beloved charges run down the clock to his death. Ignoring any possible disdain from her colleagues as she reached out towards the image of Strelizia Custom facing down the Gutenberg-Class, Nana shook her head.
"Hiro...stop! You won't be able to regain your human form!"
Her soft grieving added to the atmosphere of silent tension in the command center.
A fine mist of blood sprayed across Zero Two's back, it's sickening warmth seeping through the insulation provided by her Pistil suit. His liquid life force dotted and stained the display on her neck.
Zero Two felt his consciousness slip away for the briefest of moments as Strelizia Custom came grounding to a halt. The Gutenberg now fast approaching the now immobilized maiden of steel.
"Dar-"
Before her neck could complete it's turn, she felt a comforting warmth ruffle her hair. Doing his best to reassure her.
"-ling?"
Or but to merely placate her worries.
"Sorry, Zero Two. I dozed off for a bit."
His tone offered no comfort despite the amount of sincerity he had tried to insert in it. Distantly, through their shared bond, she felt his palpitating heartbeats as it struggled to fulfill the demands his body was placing upon it. But the fact that their connection held steady and unbroken the entire time spoke countless words of his determination.
Where your body fails, the mind prevails, huh?
Zero Two found herself being hushed as she futilely tried to protest, his gentle smile freezing the blood in her veins at the disconnect she felt between it and his current injuries.
"This won't end until we kill that thing. My body seems pretty fragile, but I'm tougher than I look. Zero Two, can you help me?" Hiro reassured her.
Or tried to, as the downcast look in her eyes told him the truth.
"It'd be better to just call a retreat and just let the klaxosaurs have the magma energy." she suggested.
"What do you think will happen to our squad if they lose their assigned Plantation? Papa would either dispose of them or send them to die at the front lines. And it's not just our friends, but the entire adult population in the cities is at stake."
"Your friends." she grumbled.
"They'll warm up to you soon enough." he rolled his eyes and winced at her lack of reaction.
Even without a mirror, Hiro could imagine how his face looked, from the pulsing feeling of the poisoned veins to Zero Two's tearing, hopeless eyes. He knew that his body was running out of time. The Gutenberg needed to be taken down, asap.
Before his entire body gave out.
"Let's go, Zero Two. I'm counting on you."
She made a sound of acknowledgement as Strelizia Custom readied Queen Pike, it's frame speeding towards the giant klaxosaur. It's red skin giving Hiro the impression that his blood was fueling their Franxx. A feral grin came over his face at that thought.
His candle had yet to be extinguished.
"What a top heavy design... We'll take out it's legs first!"
Strelizia Custom was a blur of red as it launched itself towards the Gutenberg's left leg, Queen Pike outstretched. Hiro taking note of it's weak spots and angling Strelizia Custom such that they would impact it's knee.
"We can do it... Right, Zero Two!"
Magma energy surged forth and ignited the orange tip of Queen Pike. That action alone by Zero Two spoke more than any simple reply as she focused on turning their bodies into a single piercing blade.
"I'll do it...!"
The additional boosters on Strelizia Custom's calves revealed themselves, increasing it's maximum speed.
"Let's goooo!"
The thrusters on it's belt and calves flared out blue flames as they accelerated. An exploding wash of fumes followed in their wake. At that time, it seemed as if the entire night sky was lit up by their dash.
The poor Gutenberg did not possess even a flicker of a chance.
A massive hole was carved from it's left thigh as Queen Pike disintegrated any klaxosaur tissue it came into contact with. The Gutenberg shuddered as an obvious tilt began to appear due to it's ruined balance.
"That's it!"
Spinning around for another pass to completely sever it's damaged leg, Hiro felt his heart soar. They could do it! The titan was going to be eliminated in record time!
"Ooooryaaaa!"
It's left leg simply vanished.
Repeating his turn around, Hiro targeted it's remaining leg. He would ground that titan before executing it.
"Haaa!"
Another massive hole was carved. Another immense spray of blue blood soaked the ground beneath it.
Final turn. He would dismember the Gutenberg for it's audacity in attacking their Plantations.
"Taaaa!"
The Gutenberg crashed into the ground as it found itself missing the use of it's legs. A pathetic whine erupted from it, such was it loudness that even Squad 13 maintaining the perimeter could hear it's pain.
Soaring up towards the skies like a shooting star, Hiro and Zero Two prepared to execute that final, finishing dive to end it's wretched life.
Strelizia Custom felt lighter than ever. At that very moment, nothing in the world could have stopped them.
His flame of life burnt brighter than ever. All the pain that had plagued him receded from his body.
"I can still fight!"
The thrusters roared for the final time of the night as Strelizia shot downwards towards the now crippled Gutenberg beneath it.
"With this!" Zero Two's voice finally joined in as she poured her entire being behind Queen Pike.
"How does this feel!"
If Zero Two wasn't as preoccupied as she was in executing their finishing blow, she would have noticed her darling's eyes were glowing blue.
Layers of klaxosaur tissue were pierced through as if they were going through air.
When Queen Pike was buried up to it's hilt, Zero Two tapped it's trigger to unleash it's payload. Grinning to herself as they finally attained victory.
"Game over."
Except there was no magnificent explosion. No shower of blue raindrops that signaled the elimination of a high-tier klaxosaur.
Zero Two found her grin being replaced by despair as she desperately mashed Queen Pike's trigger. A futile gesture if there ever was one.
"No way...! We're out of magma energy!?" she cried out.
Red warnings filled the walls of Strelizia Custom's cockpit as Hiro found himself frantically jerking the handles in desperation. The sounds of Strelizia Custom powering down sealed their fate as the displays and lightings followed suit.
In the darkness filled by their sounds of panting, Hiro found himself apologizing to Zero Two as the impact of the Gutenberg's punch sent them flying.
"It's my fault... I didn't watch the fuel levels as we engaged the Worm-class..."
Tears flew freely down his face as Hiro sobbed out his apologies. In his eagerness and haste, he had mismanaged Strelizia Custom fuel reserves.
And it had cost them their lives.
"We came so close, dammit!" Zero Two snarled, her fury at being denied so close to the finish line making itself apparent.
In the midst of her rage, the twisting sounds of abused steel rang out as Strelizia Custom began to twitch in the symptoms of Stampede Mode.
"Zero Two!"
"...!"
His voice brought her back to reality as she realized what she had almost done.
She had almost killed him, wringing him dry of his life force like a wet rag.
With the sound of impacting steel meeting soil, Strelizia Custom found itself lying beside the crippled Gutenberg.
The Gutenberg in question which had it's tissues starting to regenerate.
She was embracing him with all her strength, her face in his neck as she sobbed her heart out. With his hands intertwined around her back, Hiro held on to Zero Two as tightly as he could.
"I'm sor... I'm sorry! It's the Pistil's job to monitor the Franxx's condition. It's my fault that we ran out of Magma Fuel!"
Her wails echoed in the steel coffin they were currently trapped in. Every cry she let out causing a stab of pain to pierce his heart. Zero Two truly believed that she had doomed them both.
It wasn't her fault, not completely. Piloting was considered a partnership for a reason. Both the Stamen and the Pistil were responsible for each other. Equal blame was shouldered by himself and Zero Two for their current mess.
And he wouldn't have had it any other way. Because they went beyond mere partners, what they shared between them was something more precious and important.
They were a couple, and Zero Two was his girlfriend.
Shutting his eyes as he performed a quick breathing exercise to calm his fraying emotions, Hiro did the one thing which he knew that Zero Two possessed a secret indulgence in.
He nuzzled his forehead against her horns, pushing against them so roughly they left marks on his skin. His reward was a rolling shiver from her body, with Zero Two moaning out from the pleasurable sensations she was experiencing.
"Have you calmed down?"
A slight nod and a quick sniffle was his received reply. Feeling a comfortable weight press down on his lower body, Hiro couldn't help but roll his eyes at how Zero Two had stealthily maneuvered herself to sit on his lap.
Using my distraction to sneak onto my lap, what a devious girl.
With a firm but gentle application of force, Hiro found his gaze locked towards her glistening turquoise orbs, wet with accumulated tears.
"I'm happy."
"...Eh?"
Now that was an unexpected declaration. He would have thought of a thousand other things he would have said, if he'd found himself in Zero Two's position.
"Because... If this is to be our ending, then I'm glad that I was able to be with you until the very end."
He shook his head at that, they weren't done. Not even close.
"Darling?"
At her inquisitive look, he clarified himself.
"Open the hatch."
Zero Two nodded as she reached over to the switch that controlled the cockpit's hatch. Hissing sounds of depressurizing air answered her as the chilly night air washed over their sweaty bodies.
"Look." he pointed towards the crippled Gutenberg that laid before their eyes. It's exposed core throbbing behind a few flimsy layers of protective membranes.
"It's regenerating."
The slow constant regrowth of it's tissues were proof of that as the Gutenberg laid dormant, soon to recover and continue it's rampage.
"We... We can't do anything. Strelizia is out of fuel and everyone will soon be killed by the Gutenberg. Let's just spend our last moments embracing each other." Zero Two spoke as she surrendered to the impossible odds that faced her.
"Liar." he softly accused.
"Wha-!?"
"There is a way to make this machine move, isn't there?"
No no no. He wouldn't dare to suggest...!
His blazing blue-green orbs sunk her hopes. From all her time she had spent with her darling, Zero Two had come to know, love and sometimes utterly hate the look that was currently in his eyes.
Because darling was about to suggest something completely insane.
"No... You've got it all wrong. If you're going to suggest what I think you are... I'm going to refuse, darling!"
He wouldn't...! He wouldn't dare...!
"Zero Two." His firm voice booked no argument as his intense gaze refused to leave her eyes.
At that very moment, Zero Two knew her world was about to come crashing down. She would have to commit the greatest sin she could ever think of.
Darling wanted her to be the witch.
"Zero Two, I saw the Stampede Mode start to engage earlier. Even after we had lost all available power, it looked as if it reacted to you personally-"
He noticed.
Darling is sharper than he looks, beneath his cute exterior.
"To your heart, which sensed something as we shared in the mutual feelings of anguish and pain." he spoke as he prodded Zero Two's chest with his finger, indicating what he meant.
"My heart?" her trembling voice betrayed her fear as darling shook his head and continued.
"I don't believe that Strelizia is merely a killing machine that was designed to eradicate klaxosaurs. Something else entirely is incorporated into this bird of paradise. And that thing is probably controlled by a human heart."
"I don't understand! Darling, please stop talking like this! You're scaring me!" she cried out, desperate to stop the waves of fear and unease filling her body.
"That might be the reason this machine was named after an object of love. A guidepost that tests the pilot's hearts, their trust and faith in each other, as it leads them towards their fate."
Hiro chuckled as the entire jigsaw puzzle that compromised the Doctor's enigmatic mind pieced itself together and unraveled the truth before him.
"You were one devious customer when you built this thing, weren't you, Doctor?"
I understand it now, why you had this machine and it's princess hidden away from me for so long.
"I don't wanna... I DON'T WANNA!" Zero Two screamed out her refusal, uncaring of how shameless she must have seemed as a fresh stream of tears flooded her face.
He embraced her shivering wreck of a form as she slammed her fists into his chest.
"It's worth a shot... Isn't it? The chances aren't zero."
"You're cruel, you know that? Asking me to do something like this, what about my feelings? How am I going to live with myself if something permanent happens to you?"
"I said it once at the mine, and I'll say it again."
Her frantic shaking of her head as Zero Two buried herself in his chest tore Hiro's heart apart. But it had to be done.
Because one percent chances were preferable to zero percent any day of the week.
"I'm not listening! I'm not listening to you!" she shrieked.
"Use me, Zero Two."
The silence that followed his declaration was painful to the extreme.
Her fists gripped the material of his Stamen suit and clenched so harshly Hiro felt marks on his skin.
"I don't like sacrifices."
"Neither do I. So once more, for this final time, you have to trust me to come back to you."
"I'm afraid a mere promise isn't going to convince me, this time." she pointed out.
Never in her wildest fantasies, could have prepared Zero Two for his next words. It was a dream she had long given up on, a childhood promise tossed into the wind, as if it were ashes scattered to the sea, never to be found ever again.
"Then I'll marry you."
...
...
...what?
"Co-come again?" she squeaked.
He clasped their hands together as he raised them, passionate eyes full of love and sincerity. Zero Two could only stare in muted shock as her frazzled brain struggled to process the current turn of events that had just occurred.
She wasn't prepared for this! Her hair wasn't done up and her horns weren't freshly filed! Her body was still sweaty from piloting! She needed to soap her body all around until her skin was as soft it could get.
NOOOOO I'M NOT READY FOR YOU YET-
Her eyes fell on his lips, as they parted once more in slow motion.
At that very moment, Zero Two felt like her world had frozen in time.
"Zero Two, will you-"
yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes
wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait
yes wait yes wait yes wait yes wait yes wait
"Marry me?"
She bawled her heart out.
Even if he had his memories tampered with and their childhood promise turned to ashes.
It seemed history had a funny way of repeating itself.
Zero Two continued to bawl her heart out in his chest as she felt his arms provide the security she craved for so much. Nuzzling, rubbing and cuddling furiously into his chest, Zero Two threw her pride to the wind and relished in her joy, uncaring if her tears were dirtying his Stamen suit.
"Do you believe me now?" he smiled at the sobbing, pink-haired mess in his chest.
Zero Two's body shot up from his embrace, an action so sudden and violent Hiro had to duck out of the way, lest he had the top of her head crash into his chin. Her eyes, now furiously glowing red along with her horns, made a hot flush of want surge through his body at the sight of them.
Jabbing her finger into his chest so roughly he felt a stab of pain, she hissed at him.
"You'll put a ring on me."
It was a statement, not a request.
He nodded.
"Yup."
"You'll make me wear a white dress."
"Yup."
"I want a ceremony."
"We'll invite everyone."
"And we'll go for a honeymoon after this."
"Anywhere you want."
"Children."
Well... that was a little...
"CHILDREN!" she hissed once more.
"Okay okay! Will do!"
"Several."
fffffffffffffffffffffffff
"...Let's just take it slow and-"
Zero Two growled at his hesitation.
"...! As many as you want! Let's start a football team ahahahaha~"
His mind signing it's unconditional surrender, Hiro found himself giving up his rights to his newfound fiancée. Girls were terrifying!
Sobering up once more, Zero Two inserted herself into the Pistil Terminal. Glancing back as she locked her somber eyes towards his, Zero Two pleaded with the most unguarded voice Hiro had ever heard come from the Partner Killer.
"Don't you dare turn me into a widow tonight."
As Hiro watched the red-skinned and nude form of Zero Two's soul approach him with sorrowful eyes, he tried not to let the fear show on his face as she gently clamped his throat in a quickly tightening grip.
He met her crying eyes once more, the trembling of her fingers displaying her anxiety even through her ethereal form.
Neither of them wanted this.
But it had to be done, or else everything would be lost.
Hiro felt the soft caress of her fingers on his cheek, Zero Two apologizing in her own way for the sin she was about to commit. In return, he too wicked away the tears from her eyes as he smiled at her.
"It's ok. If it's with Zero Two, I'm happy."
Sucking in the deepest, longest breath he could, Hiro nodded his approval for her to go ahead.
His earth-shattering scream of pain echoed throughout the battlefield.
Ichigo's blood froze at the shrill scream of pain that shattered her entire world. Envy Shop, stained with the blue blood of countless Conrad-classes, clattered uselessly on the ground as Hiro's verbalized agony came crashing through her intercoms.
"Ichigo! We have to keep focused! There's another Conrad coming for us!"
The lone Conrad, long burrowed underground as it hid itself away, stalking Delphinium for the perfect moment to strike, revealed itself as it saw Delphinium lose it's magma weapons. The shrieking Conrad was in midair as it leapt towards Delphinium, it's bestial instincts pleased at such an easy target.
In a normal situation, for a Franxx to be ambushed by klaxosaurs while lacking it's magma weapons would have spelt a quick doom for it's pilots by any rational logic, but the Conrad failed to account for one single overriding factor.
For Ichigo was not your regular Parasite. She wasn't even a double digit elite like Goro or Code 090.
She was an Aggressor.
And she was pissed.
Goro's jaw dropped as Delphinium caught the Conrad mid-leap and literally ripped it apart with it's bare hands. The sheer brutality of such an action not going unnoticed by him.
"Ichi...go?"
Ichigo let out a girlish giggle as jets of klaxosaur blood shot through the air, tainting the blue Franxx as a dangerous smile filled it's faceplate.
It was a sound that would occasionally come back to haunt Goro's dreams for the rest of his life.
"And here I was, thinking I could trust her. How silly of me." she chuckled as Delphinium picked up Envy Shop from where it laid on the ground.
Flashing a thousand watt smile that sent danger signals all over his being, Ichigo casually spoke to Goro, as if they were best friends once more.
"Let's go, Goro."
"What are you planning to do?" He nervously asked the smiling blue-haired beauty in front of him. Her eerily clear green eyes speaking of their clarity and conviction.
"I'm going to murder her."
"So I was thinking, don't you think a house by the seaside sound nice?"
"I can hardly imagine the maintenance required for something like that, the sodium in the air is going to cause all the metals to rust."
"Darling is such a big spoilsport."
"I didn't say no."
His body was fully resting over hers in the Pistil Terminal, lacking even the strength to support his body in any form of upright posture. Hiro felt his life force drain away into Strelizia as every inch of movement Zero Two made caused pain to shoot through his entire body.
And she knew it. Her false-cheery voice was paired with a tear streaked face as she slowly squeezed the life out of her darling.
As she played the role of the black-hearted witch.
Even so, they both tried their best to converse as casually as possible. Because there was no other way to maintain their sanity in such messed up circumstances.
Zero Two tore away another layer of the protective membrane blocking access to the Gutenberg's core. Her mind blanked out as she heard another spray of blood erupt from his mouth.
That was the only defence her mind could come up with in order to protect her sanity. Every layer removal required a certain amount of pressure to destroy it, no matter how she tried to conserve her energy consumption, darling had blood spewing from his mouth every time Strelizia clamped it's jaws shut.
With her mind automating her horrifying actions to autopilot, the small, sane part of Zero Two's mind continued their conversation.
"Just think about the amount of fishing we could do! And after that, we could start a campfire and grill them!"
"Lemon and salt."
"Hmm?"
"I like grilled fish when it's seasoned with lemon juice and salt."
Another membrane layer, they were getting really close to the core.
Another spray of blood.
His interlocked arms around her tummy lost it's grip and fell slack against her sides.
Zero Two couldn't keep the desperation from tainting her rising voice.
"Not to mention, you'll get to see me in a swimsuit all the time! I'll even let you pick out the ones you like the most and I'll wear them for you!"
A uncomfortable amount of time passed in silence.
"...Darling?" her voice had started to crack.
She turned her neck to check on him, with his head resting on her shoulders, it was but a simple task.
His eyes were glassy and unseeing.
Zero Two couldn't stifle the sob that forced it's way out of her throat.
That was until he blinked once. Then once more. While his eyes remained unfocused and glassy, the signs of life that he had just displayed did wonders in soothing Zero Two's anxiety. Even though a dark part of Zero Two's heart already knew the truth about his current condition.
His eyesight had already begun to fail. Even if darling survived, he would just be a cripple.
"Sounds...great..." he chuckled.
They had reached it, the final protective membrane that covered the core itself. Without delay, Zero Two decided that she would destroy both the core and the final layer at the same time. The faster they could get out of Stampede Mode, the quicker darling could be given medical attention.
She snuggled her cheek against his, uncaring at how his blood dirtied her fair skin.
"Last one darling, just hang in there a little longer."
She didn't allow the lack of a reply faze her. She would end it, right here and right now. She would kill this stupid Gutenberg and nurse her darling back to perfect health! Perfect! Nothing less would be tolerated!
Darling would be just fine. She just had to put her faith in him.
Everything on the line for his sake. Just as he did for her.
If Zero Two had applied caution to her actions, she would have noticed that the liquid blue blood of the Gutenberg gave way to an combustible vapor as she got closer to the core. But no caution was to be found as Zero Two forced the core into Strelizia's jaws and pressed them down as hard as she could.
Shattering it and igniting the vapors that comprised of the Gutenberg's final defensive systems in the form of an self destruct function.
As the pieces of the wreckage that used to comprise of Strelizia Custom's frame flew apart to scatter across the battlefield, Zero Two found herself blacking out from the force of the explosion that had just occurred at point blank range.
Hiro blinked to clear his fuzzy vision.
His world was moving.
Or to be more precise, he was being moved.
The rocking motions of his field of view told him that.
Locks of pink hair fell across his face as her desperate eyes screamed along with her moving lips.
Tilting his head, Hiro found himself puzzled at the eerie silence despite the rapid movement of Zero Two's lips and her heaving chest.
Distantly, he heard the fluttering sounds of birds flapping their wings. It was the first sound that penetrated the silence which had dominated his senses ever since he had regained consciousness.
He glanced away in the search of the Jians. The blurring of his vision offering no help in that aspect.
Giving up, he found his eyes returning to her face, still draped over his.
Feeling pride swell in his chest at his successful return, Hiro smiled at her crying visage.
I made it back, Zero Two.
Hiro released the breath he was unconsciously holding, his body shuddering in the process.
As his heart flatlined.
"Call it. Code 016's official time of death is 0315 hours." Hachi nodded to the operator.
Unrestrained sobs filled the command center as Nana found herself breaking down over the console bank which displayed his vitals, or lack thereof.
Besides her, Nana could hear the sounds of tightening fabric as Werner Franxx increased the force at which he was gripping his cane.
"Don't let Fate crush you. Be brave, Hiro, brave enough to fight off this despair. If you're truly the Special Specimen...you can do it."
Hiro found himself ankle deep in a foggy lake, the gentle sounds of water splashing against him. The fresh lakeside air filling his lungs and rejuvenating him with a sense of satisfaction. Stretching out his arms, Hiro enjoyed the soothing sensations of his muscles relaxing themselves after the suffering his body had been forced to endure. Even though the sky above him was surreal in it's grayed color, Hiro found himself at peace.
A flock of Jian brushed past his face, forcing him to turn away from the tickling sensation that their feathers caused. They soared through the air across the lake and deeper into the fog, where the shadowy outline of a massive quadrupled form loomed in the distance.
Squinting his eyes towards the behemoth in the distance, Hiro felt a familiar sense of deja vu fill his mind. His eyes widened as he finally discovered the reason for his dissonance.
It looks like Strelizia, but it's way too huge and bulky. That thing is massive.
Realizing what the Jian were telling him, Hiro nodded to himself as he proceed to wade deeper into the depths of the lake. The Jian were returning to Strelizia, where they belonged, just like him.
With a sense of peace and finality, Hiro waded forward as he prepared to submerge himself into the lake of his afterlife.
That was until a tugging on his wrist forced him to pause in his tracks, the water now at his knees. As he turned towards the source of his disturbance, Hiro's eyes widened as he came face-to-face with the one person he would have never thought to meet.
A raven-haired child in a fur lined coat with familiar blue-green eyes mirrored himself in his orbs. He wasn't alone as well, he had his hands joined with a small red-skinned beast child clothed in rags.
Hiro made a noise in his throat as he confronted his childhood self. His younger self who was sadly shaking his head in a silent plea for him not to continue on his journey into the depths of the lake.
Hiro found himself confused. If his younger self did not wish for him to submerge himself into the lake and return to Strelizia where he belonged, what was he supposed to do instead? This was the only way forward, after all, he had completed his goal and protected everyone precious to him. Everyone had to die sometime, it was just part of nature. Going out with a maximum effort that culminated into a successful victory didn't seem like a bad way to finish his life.
He glanced at the red-skinned beast child that held hands with his younger self and felt an intense pain pierce his mind.
"...!"
Those horns and pink hair. And those familiar turquoise orbs as they furiously glared at him, accusing him of some unknown crime.
"Erase those memories. They're noise."
Static clouded his vision as they blurred from the crushing pressure exerting itself on his mind. A high-pitched ringing sound pierced his eardrums as they tore his senses apart.
ZeR0-
Her lips parted as she bared her fangs at him, her fury undiminished.
"Da!"
His brain stabbed itself repeatedly as the feedback doubled in intensity and his entire world shattered with the sounds of breaking glass. His eyes only allowing him small shards of vision as colors bled over into the previously grayed out world. Forced to his knees from the pain, Hiro felt a warm, comforting hand rest itself on his head.
His hand.
"It's what you get for forgetting you're children."
"Da!"
2w0?
He looked up at the kind eyes of his younger self.
"She's been waiting for you all this time."
He pointed towards a blooming sakura tree, it's vivid pink standing out in stark contrast with the monochrome world surrounding it.
Where a familiar pink-haired girl in a red Pistil suit awaited, her back turned towards him.
Zero Two!
Hiro forced himself up from his knees, shaking off the hold of his younger self as he ran with all his might towards her, water splashing around him in his wake. As the distance between them came closer to zero, he reached out to her.
Turning her around to face him once and for all.
Ending the wait that she had endured for her entire life.
Watery turquoise orbs met equally wet green-blue ones.
Because 'normal' was what seemed right
"The picture book."
Her guard broke upon hearing his confession. Tears streamed down her face as she found her entire hopes and dreams becoming a reality all at once.
What could I do to become one? There was no one I could have asked.
He clasped their hands together as she gently shook her head in disbelief, afraid to find her newfound hopes shattered.
"You were the girl with the picture book back then, weren't you?"
"...!"
She closed her eyes as emotions overwhelmed her. An entire lifetime of searching, of waiting and dreaming resolved.
He had found the missing pieces of his memories.
His missing childhood friend.
Embracing her close, he whispered into her ears,
"I hereby vow to never let you go."
"Mm." she nodded.
"Take as much time as you need, darling. I've waited my entire life for you, this is nothing in comparison."
Zero Two gently stroked his hair as he laid in her lap, in the flashing emergency lights of Strelizia Custom's cockpit.
"That picture book you were reading at the library, 'Sleeping Beauty', it's kind of ironic, now that I think about it. I never thought that I would be the one playing the role of the prince." she chuckled.
Closing in to join their lips together, she spoke.
"I never lost faith in you, and I never will."
Her final appeal.
"So come back to me."
It was raining.
Strange. The cockpit should have sheltered them from the elements. Unless she had decided to bring them outside?
And when was rain this salty?
Warm, salty drops of liquid splattered on his face as Hiro awoke. Zero Two's sniffling ceased as her jaw dropped at the miracle occurring before her. In another more relaxed situation, Hiro would have pointed out the absurd expression she was currently carrying on her face and poked fun at it.
However, considering the events of the past hours, Hiro found himself awkwardly staring at his gaping fiancée.
He blinked once.
She blinked in response, her mouth still hanging open.
I'm surprised she hasn't drooled on me yet, with how long her mouth has been opened.
He blinked once more.
She copied his motion.
Alright this is getting silly.
Loudly clearing his throat, Hiro tried his best to break the ice.
"Well, did I miss the kiss?"
"DARLING!"
Her ecstatic cry hurt his ears with it's volume as she embraced him in a bone crushing hug. While Hiro was overjoyed at her reaction, not to mention the softness of her chest squished flat against his body, he had a more pressing issue to attend to.
"Need...Air..."
He started to desperately strike her toned back in an attempt to signal his oncoming death via asphyxiation.
Zero Two hurriedly released her grip on her darling as he coughed for oxygen.
"So... did I miss the kiss?" he asked, staring up towards her face as he continued enjoying the comforting warmth of Zero Two's lap pillow.
"Maaaaaybe~" she teased.
"Alright, I think I'm going to die once more. Here, feel free to kiss me again anytime you feel like it."
Closing his eyes, Hiro allowed his body to fall limp as he tried to blackmail Zero Two with his crappy acting skills.
Her tinkling laughter joined with his as Zero Two embraced him once more.
"Well, well. The both of you are certainly hitting it off."
Nine Alpha smirked to himself as he viewed the wreckage of what had used to comprise of Strelizia Custom. It's remaining parts being it's head attached to it's upper torso which only retained a single arm. Everything else was vaporized by the self destruction of the Gutenberg-class.
"A shame you had to go and wreck your fancy new upgrade, Nine Iota."
"After being declared clinically dead for seven minutes and forty seconds, Code 016's body repaired itself to perfect health with it's excess YBC, restoring his vitals. We now possess concrete evidence that the cursed Pistil will no longer offer any more issues for him in future sorties. Unfortunately, Strelizia Custom was totaled in it's previous battle."
"It matters not. APE is pleased to note of Code 016's development. The current status of Strelizia doesn't matter as we will now give you the green light to execute the Filament Plan."
Werner blinked at Papa's sudden change of heart. He could scarcely believe his ears.
Truly? Had the time finally come for his scheming and plotting to bear fruit?
"Werner."
Straightening his back at Papa's tone, he glanced at the recorder that laid beside him during official meetings with APE. Ensuring that there was an archived backup of their conversation able to be accessed from digital storage. He could afford no risks with a project of this magnitude and importance.
"The entire resources of the APE Council of Humanity lie at your disposal. Your blank check has been approved. Do not disappoint us. Depending on the results, we might finally be able to open a path to Gran Crevasse."
The display's image terminated itself as Papa cut the connection without warning in his usual manner.
Werner Franxx nodded as he took in the scale of responsibility that now lay on his shoulders. The entire resources of the human race was now available to him in his capacity as APE's top scientist. The weight of that responsibility was... staggering.
Seating himself at his computer terminal, Werner Franxx drew up shipping manifests from seven other regions as he redirected them to Plantation 13. He also dipped into APE's strategic Magma Fuel reserves as he ordered everything he required to make his magnum opus a reality.
Stripping combat engineers and mechanics from front line units to relocate them to Plantation 13, he callously requisitioned every resource he required. Brutally overriding all objections with the new powers invested in him by Papa's approval.
Snapping off the key from it's chain that he had used in place of a necklace, Werner Franxx unlocked the final drawer of his lab's cabinet. Rummaging through it's top secret contents, he reached the bottom where the blueprints he was searching for laid stashed away for years.
"It's beautiful..." he murmured in awe.
In his hands lay the key to humanity's salvation.
A Franxx that would render every other operating unit in the world obsolete upon it's creation, the penultimate upgrade of the Strelizia series.
FRX-02-F2
Or as it was referred to by it's Official Name,
Hi-Filament Strelizia.